Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (13 page)

   And that was her fault. He had been so busy worrying and watching over her that he had not been taking care of himself. Guilt tugged at Cassie as she became even more desperate to be the one to ease his torment.

  G
rasp
ing
his head
,
Cassie
kn
e
w she would have to make the first move here
. He would not go forth otherwise. Gently guiding his head down, she turned her head to allow him better access to h
er
neck. He hesitated for a moment, his
mouth hot
against her skin. His
body
stiffened a
gainst hers once more. Cassie’s heart thumped loudly in anticipation
,
each beat
pound
ed
like a drum
in her ears.

   She waited breathlessly;
scared to move
f
or
fear
he would pull away. Then, with a small moan
,
h
e
brushed
his lips
lightly against the tender skin of her neck. Cassie’s hands tightened in his hair as she felt the fluttering brush of his fangs. Another light kiss
stroked over
her, and then he struck.

   Cassie arched off the bed, a small gasp of pain escaping as her hands clenched upon him. His hand entangled
lightly
in her hair
,
pulling her head back as he
sank
deep
er, drinking forcefully in long
,
greedy gulps
. His other arm locked firmly around her waist
,
pulling her
against him. Cassie groaned, falling back upon the bed, turning her head to the side as the pain faded away and pleasure
rushed forward to
engulf her in waves that left her breathless and limp.
Her tight grip eased on him as she became suffused in a world of ecstasy
and pleasure
.

   It
took her a moment to realize that it
was his pleasure she was feeling. It
surrounded her, wrapping her within
a
tight cocoon of warmth and need. His love
consumed her, swallowing her completely. It was so true, so pure that it robbed all logical thought from her. It pounded against
her, over her, through her
. It
end
ed
all
her
doubts
,
and
any
lack of self confidence she had ever experienced in his presence.

  
She
suddenly
saw herself
through his eyes, and to him she was
beautiful, loving;
strong. He knew that she was not perfect, and he loved her even more for he
r
faults, accepting every one of them
. However there was nothing about her that he would change, or would even think about changing
.
Tears burned her eyes as her heart swelled, feeling as if it w
ere
going to burst with joy.

   She could also feel his hunger. The thirst that was constantly with him, that plagued him at all times. The battle he fought with himself constantly, especially around her
, to maintain control of his murderous instincts
. The depth of his need and want for her was staggering
. It shook her thoroughly. And something she had n
ever
thought
could be
possible began to happen, her love for him grew.
The control it took for him to be around her was far more than she ever could have imagined
,
and she loved him even more
for his ability
,
and desire
,
to do so
.

   Cassie tried desperately to relay her own pleasure and love to him, praying fervently that it reached him as easily as his reached her. She held him tighter, cradling him against h
er,
u
naware of the tears of joy and love that slid down her face. “I love you,” she whispered over and over, just in case her thoughts were not reaching him
,
she wanted her words too.

   Even when he bit deeper, harder, she felt no fear. She simply allowed herself to drift inside of his
love,
gratification
,
and delight.
Her fingers curled
tighter
into his hair, pulling h
im closer to her
. Though she knew he could kill her, she didn’t want this to ever end
, and there was no fear that he would do so
. This bond was so intimate and wonderful that she never wanted it to
stop
.

   He broke away suddenly, shaking as his head dropped
o
nto her shoulder
. Cassie stroked him gently, trying to ease the tremors wracking him. Though he was no longer feeding upon her, she
was surprised to realize that the bond had not been broken. His emotions still thrummed against her
, his love still enveloped her
.

   “I’m fine,” she said in response to the worry
she felt
pou
r
ing
from
him. He lifted his head slowly, turning toward her. His eyes gleamed as they rapidly scanned h
er face
, trying to assure
himself
that she was not lying to him
. More power than she had ever seen radiated from him
. A jolt of satisfaction and pleasure filled her at the realization
that it was
her
blood that had caused
th
e
influx of power in him.
“Did you take enough?”

   A muscle jumped in his cheek, he bent his forehead to hers. “Plenty,” he whispered
hoarsely
.
“Are you sure you’
re ok?
”

   Cassie stroked his face lightly
, wishing to soothe him. “I’m perfectly fine, better than fine even.”
 

   He searched her face a moment longer, doubt creas
ed
his forehead. Seeming to
finally
believe her, he rolled to the side, drawing her tight against him. Cassie sighed contentedly as she rested her hand on his chest. He rubbed her back gently
, idly playing with her hair. “That was wonderful,” she murmured, her eyes drifting closed as serenity enshrouded her.

   “Yes,
i
t was.”

   Cassie yawned, burrowing herself tighter against his hard side. “Is it always like that? Can you always feel other people’s emotions?” she wondered.

   Devon was silent for a moment, his hand tightened briefly upon her arm.
“Only if we want to
.
We can keep people shut out if we choose, but the exchange of blood opens pathways between the two minds.”

   “Do you always let people in?”

  
“Not in a very long time. I never cared what they felt
when I thought that it might be
good
.
But sometimes…” he broke off for a moment, seemingly hesitant to continue on, but eventually he did. “Sometime
s
I enjoyed feeling the pain
.
”
  

  
Cassie closed her eyes, trying not to think about what those words said about the monster he had once been. Tried not to think about the fact that though he didn’t say it, she knew that he had once taken great pleasure in viciously hurting others.
“Is it painful
to some
for long?” she whispered.

  
He stiffened against her,
not liking this line of questioning,
but he would not keep anything from her.
“
It can be,
”
he admitted.

  
She shuddered as
thoughts of her grandmother blazed into her mind, but she quickly shut them down. This moment was only about the two of them, she was not going to let the outside world intrude upon the ecstasy she had found here.

   “Why wasn’t it for me?”

  
He turned into her, his nose gently nuzzling her ear. Shivers of delight racked her as she cuddled closer, burying herself against him. Though his body temperature was lower than hers, he never failed to heat her.
“Because you were willing
.
It is only painful if you fight against it, which most people do. But if you are willing… well things are different if you give your blood freely.”

  
Cassie yawned again, her hand curled tightly into his shirt, lying over the place where his heart no longer
beat
.
That fact had once slightly unnerved her, it no longer did.
His hand curled up the back of her head, gently cupping her skull as he dropped a soft kiss on top of her head.

   “I have never experienced that before.”

   Cassie’s
head shot up, her eyes widened
slightly. She hadn’t wanted to think about all of the many women he had shared blood with over the years.
Especially not Isla.
“Really?”

   He smiled softly at her, his fingers lightly trailing over her cheek.
“Really.”

   She frowned at him. “How is that possible?”

   “I’ve never met a
willing human before
,
and I’ve never exchanged blood with a vampire.”

   Cassie’s eyebrows drew tightly together in confusion.
“Why not?”

   He shrugged, his hand stilling on her cheek as his eyes burned intently into hers. “When vampires exchange
blood with each other the pathways are
open even more, the mind
is
even more accessible. It is a
very intimate thing, one that only certain vampires share with eac
h other,
one that I never wished to share with someone else.
Until now.”

   Cassie thrilled at his words; she couldn’t stop the giant grin that spread over her face. She couldn’t deny the thrill of possession and superiority that tore through her. They finally had one thing that was
theirs
, one thing that she did not have to feel self conscious about. He grinned back at her, pulling her do
wn to kiss her gently. She melt
ed against him,
sighing softly as she fell into his arms.

   She was just beginning to lose herself in his kiss when he pulled away, dropped a chaste kiss on her nose and pulled her head down against his side. “You need your rest.”

   She wanted to protest his gruff order
,
but his body was hard and unyielding against hers. It was taking all that he had to keep himself away from her. Plus, it was hard to argue
when
her eyelids
were
drift
ing
closed and her body went limp against his.
 

CHAPTER 7

   Devon threw the door of the bathroom open
, wincing slightly as it
re
boun
d
ed
loudly
off
the wall
. He was still not used to the strength of Cassie’s blood
flowing
inside of him. His entire body thrummed with the
energy
of her. In all of his hundreds of years, and thousands of victims, he had never tasted anything, or experienced anything
,
as wonderful
and powerful
as she was.

   And it was more than just the power inside of her,
and
the thrill that she gave to him. It was her openness; her willingness, her trust, and unadulterated love for him that made him feel as if he could take on the world. He could do anything as long as she was at his side
. And he hoped fervently that one day she would chose to stay by his side forever.

   Though they had not discussed it again, it was something that they would have to confront
sooner rather than later. Tasting her today had eased the fiery hunger of the beast inside
him, but she was still human
, and that was the biggest problem. He wanted her with him forever, and he wanted her to be safe from the
world of
death that she resided in.